Feeling a little bit better

Getting over Bronchitis takes time.  I remember having it twice before, but I have to keep reminding myself that I didn't just get well overnight.  I surprised myself and was able to stay at work until 5 pm.  It was nice to be back in the store and I kept myself well occupied. My throat is still sore today, but I will discuss all of that with the doctor at my appointment tomorrow.

We had the most amazing dinner at church last night.  Miss Wendy makes some fabulous dinners!  We had a chicken casserole, rice, green beans, cheesy garlic bread, salad, fresh fruit, chocolate cake, Hawaiian cake, and apple cobbler.  I had to go back for seconds on the meal.  Brandon (along with everyone else) was happy to see me eat after feeling so icky the past week.

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I'm working for a little while today.  I did have quite a few coughing spells yesterday, but it happens randomly.  My belly is still extremely sore from all of the coughing.  I've switched from cherry flavored cough drops to strawberry flavor.  I've tried to keep my throat moist at all times to avoid embarrassing coughing spells (that lead to watery eyes).

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Paul did find a new girl to take my place in the store (Lauren).  She starts today.  She's one of our previous customers and I sold her husband the bridal set that she wears.  When she's visited the store before I've always enjoyed talking to her.  It's bittersweet.  Brandon and I are blessed that I can come home and take care of Elliana for a while.  We were also lucky that Paul was so understanding when I needed time off for fertility treatment.  He's understood everything and been so supportive of our journey.  I have no doubts that I'll frequent the store when I've got cabin fever and want a safe clean environment to escape with Ellie to.  It's just going to be hard to see someone else in the store "taking my place."  Work has become such a big part of my life and everyone in the store is part of my extended family.  They knew we were pregnant before much of our family did.  Randal and Rachel helped give me shots when Brandon was out of town.  Ben makes sure that I have lunch and Tums every day that I'm at work.  They all cheered me on when we had bad days, and are just as excited about Elliana as our family.

My feet are swollen and so tired from standing as much as I did yesterday... and I will miss that feeling.  As of today, I am only working six more days in the store.  When I started I had no idea that I would stay and work as long as I did.  I'm looking forward to taking care of my daughter for a while, but will still be excited to see where LIFE takes me.

I made muffins to take to work this morning!

We get to see baby girl, Elliana, at our 3D Ultrasound tomorrow! 

Still Feeling Crummy

I must be losing my mind because I'm going to work today.  After Valentine's Day ended I cut back my hours at work.  I was only able to work one day (Monday) last week because I got sick on Wednesday.  Here I am a week later still feeling awful and possibly worse than I did last week!  Wednesday is Paul's off day or I would not be going in.  Do you know that he's more worried about me being on my feet in the store than I am?  He even told the girls that he doesn't want me up and moving too much when I'm in the store anymore.  Talk about having a boss who truly cares!

Today is going to be a rough day.  Sleeping with the humidifier last night was great for my dry throat.  The sound of the machine is also very soothing.  I woke up once around 3 am to blow my nose and put drops in my eyes.  When I do wake up it takes much longer than normal for my eyes to open up and adjust.  I've been having some intense hot flashes at night.  It must be a combination of pregnancy hormones and having Bronchitis.  My nose is still runny and stopped up (with lovely green snot) and keeps trickling down my throat.  It's getting easier for me to cough it up, but I sound pretty gross when it happens.  The glands in my throat are swollen again and my throat hurts.  I think it would all be pretty manageable if I wasn't pregnant and I didn't have this yucky cough all of the time.  My tummy is pretty sore this morning from all of the coughing.  But that's enough complaining for this morning.  I'm hoping that some fresh air and time away from the house will help me feel a bit better.

Here I am today.  Make up is definitely my friend right now.  I still look pretty gross and have black bags under my eyes but I'm lucky to have some great concealer!  I also haven't worn this shirt in a while and it just barely covers up the tummy now!

A Difference in a Day

 From yesterday at the ER.  My face was so puffy!  I cannot believe how much I share here-especially pictures!

It was nice to sleep (mostly) through the night.  Don't get me wrong, I've still got a nasty cough!  I made sure to apply my eye drops immediately before going to bed.  When I woke up around 4 am they were sticking together a little bit but nothing like what I've woken up to the past two nights.  I was able to clean them and add more drops.  They sting because my eyes are so irritated but it only lasts a few minutes.  They blur my vision slightly but nothing too bad to complain about (I know y'all are tired of that!).  I've still got lots of green snot- Sorry!  I'm not sure when that will stop.  Let me just say that it still kills to sneeze and I avoid it at all cost.

When we stopped by Walmart on the way home yesterday I forgot that I needed to purchase a humidifier.  Boo!  My throat is irritated and probably will be for a little while longer.  I need to be breathing moister air when possible-especially at night.  I'm planning to make my outing to Walmart the only one today.  The steroid shot gives the impression that I'm all better but I still need to rest.

Much to my happiness, I've gotten on a great routine of keeping up with the laundry.  I only need to wash and dry all of the clothes we wore yesterday along with a few other things.  I had always told Brandon that I was just too tired after working and too overwhelmed on my one off day to keep with stuff like that.  Even he's been surprised at how much I can get done even when I'm sick and not feeling well.  I just needed more time!

Here I am this morning.  You may not believe it, but I'm looking better.  My face is much less swollen from being sick.  I've noticed some facial changes from the pregnancy but nothing that anyone who doesn't see me on a daily basis would notice.  My eyes are still red but nothing as scary as they have been in days past.  I'm looking forward to putting my face on tomorrow and heading to work and Church for Wednesday Night Supper.

And here's my nemesis!  I couldn't stand it.  I'm only drinking a small amount of Orange Juice and will sip and savor it.  Of course I crave what makes me the sickest.  It's probably good to get the Vitamin C since I've been so sick as well.  I'm sure that I'll be crunching tums, ice and gum for the rest of the day but it's worth it.

Thank you to my loyal readers.  I know that I've been out of it the past few days but I'm so looking forward to feeling better in the coming days.  We've got a super busy week planned and I'm now feeling much more prepared to get through it!

Bronchitis

I am so thankful that I only have Bronchitis! We were at the ER for a total of 4.5 hours today. We are both exhausted!

They ordered blood work, a flu test, and chest X-ray. My white blood cell count was still high at 13,000 but down from 17,000 last Wednesday. The flu test was negative an the chest X-ray was clean.

They have me a steroid shot in the hiney and two different Rx. I'm on yet another antibiotic (third new one in five days) and they also gave me some eye drops.

Brandon and I are both grateful that it's nothing too serious. I'm also thankful that they let me come home rather than staying overnight. Don't get me wrong, Bronchitis is NO fun either. I'm hoping and praying to start feeling better now. I'm going back to Brookwood on Friday for my 3-hour GTT, doctor appointment, and 3D ultrasound. It will be a busy day but we cannot wait to see our precious Elliana again!

Thank you for all of the support!

Pneumonia? On way to ER

I called the OB office this morning and left word that I was still sick and not feeling any better.  The nurse called back and said that she would relay the message to the doctors.  After talking with Dr. Adcock, the nurse said that he is worried that I have Pneumonia.  We are currently on the way to the ER at Brookwood for a chest x-ray.  I went ahead and packed a little bag on the off chance that I have to stay.
I'm asking for prayers that they can figure out what's going on and get me well so my baby girl is taken care of.  Thank you!
 

Sickness

My hope was to be feeling better by now.  That is definitely not the case.  I was up again last night with the same routine of coughing, blowing my nose, cleaning out my eye, and trying to go back to sleep again.  I woke up and took a shower and made it through the first service at church.  There was no way I was going to miss Communion and worship.

Before leaving for church

Once we were back home I rested all day long.  Brandon and I watched TV together and I even caught a one-hour nap, but when I woke up my eye was hurting.  Only difference was that the infection had spread to my other eye.   It seems like I can't get any better!  (Right now both of my eyes are swollen.)

Eyes on the way to church

After being on another antibiotic for two full days I expected to be better.  That's not the case.  Brandon and I got in bed around 9 pm and I was already uncomfortable.  Both of my eyes swell when I'm asleep now.  My nose keeps running (I can only use my nose spray twice daily) and I cough whenever I try to move.  My throat is super aggravated and now the acid is creeping up my throat as well.  While I'm typing I'm chomping away at gum- it's supposed to help suppress the stomach acid.  Tums aren't doing the trick anymore!  

We ate dinner at 6 pm, plenty of time before going to bed.  I even chewed thoroughly and took my time eating.  We had a safe - bland pasta (Pesto & Sun Dried Tomato with Cream Sauce) and I felt fine until I laid down for bed.

Dinner

I finally broke down and started crying in bed.  I feel like such a weenie.  I've never been good at being sick.    This is a completely different experience for me because medicine usually works and I'm completely on the mend by now.  I can only imagine how Ellie's taking all of the coughing.  Don't even get me started on how bad my chest hurts when I sneeze!

I'm terribly sorry about the sad and downer posts right now.  I've got to get it out somewhere.  This is the first time I've been sick during our pregnancy with Ellie.  Please, Lord, make me well.  I don't know how much more I can take.  I desperately need rest.

This is is me right now

You don't even want to see what my eyes look like when they start draining.  It's not pretty and it's a yucky infection.  Please pray that I start feeling better.

Still Sick - Sick Again

Brandon and I had a great time in Biloxi, but I've somehow gotten worse.

We ate dinner Thursday evening at a restaurant along the Bay.  I ate Cajun Fried Shrimp, and we had Crawfish Nachos for an appetizer.  It was amazing, but I paid for it.  I was up two different times during the night throwing up stomach acid.  My acid reflux kicked my butt and I will think more than twice before eating anything else fried for the duration of this pregnancy.

Brandon and his rep (Monica) had a few stops to make on Friday.  We ended up not leaving Biloxi until around 4 pm and that's when I started feeling bad again.  My throat had hurt all day from the stomach acid.  My ears started feeling pressure and then I started feeling like I was getting sicker.  I woke up twice last night.  I stayed up for an hour from about 3-4:30 am watching Duck Dynasty and King of the Hill.  I drank hot tea, blew my nose about 20 times, had a couple of nose bleeds, coughed up stuff from my throat, and just felt all around miserable.

At 6:30 am I couldn't sleep anymore.  Brandon took me back to the doctor and they said that I'm trying to get Bronchitis.  My right eye is swollen and is oozing stuff whenever I sleep or cry.  There's fluid behind both of my ears and my throat is still sore.  The doctor said that I was resistant to the first antibiotic, so he gave me something different along with some nose spray.  I desperately hope to start feeling better.  Today's been a rough day for me, but I'm lucky that Brandon has taken care of me all day.  I don't say it enough, but I have one amazing husband who is always exceeding my expectations.  =)

Sorry to have written such a debbie downer post.  I'm just ready to feel better again.

28 Weeks (Third Trimester) and Bumpdate

How many weeks:
28 weeks
Welcome to the Seventh Month and 3rd Trimester of Pregnancy!
countdown
12 weeks to go (in terms of a 40 week pregnancy)

How big is Ellie:
The size of an eggplant


Maternity Clothes:
Always.  I hope to find a few sundresses to wear since it's about Spring here in Alabama.

Weight Gain Alert! 
156 lbs
Gained this week:  1 lb
Total weight gain:  33 lbs
It's been very hard for me to eat this week.  I actually started losing weight and was able to make it back to last week's weight and add one extra pound.

Movement:
Elliana is still quite the little mover.  Sometimes it feels like there's a fish out of water flopping around in my tummy.

Food Cravings:
Not much of anything this week since I've felt so bad.

Food Aversions:
Fried and spicy food-it makes my acid reflux unbearable

My Current Eating Pattern:
For the past few days I've been reminding myself to eat.  The cortisone shot along with all of my other symptoms has decreased my appetite tremendously.

Symptoms:
fatigue, strep throat symptoms, sinus issues, swollen hands and feet, hemorrhoids (maybe TMI but they happen), increased thirst, increased sense of smell

Sleep:
My back has been allowing me rest, but my sickness is NOT.  I'm waking up at least twice a night to drink water or hot tea and maintain nose bleeds.  When I get sick I go all out!

What do I miss:
Being well.  At least my back has given me a break to battle all that I have going on now.

Best moment of the week:
Spending some precious quality time with Brandon and making it to the 3rd Trimester of pregnancy.

Worst moment of the week:
Throwing up stomach acid (in the middle of the night) at our hotel in Biloxi from eating fried/Cajun food.

What am I looking forward to:
Getting better, hopefully passing the 3-hour GTT, and seeing our baby girl at the 3D ultrasound on Friday.

Milestones:
We've made it!  We are in the home stretch and will be meeting our daughter in the next 12 weeks.  God is so good and we are so thankful for all that he had done for us.

"Elliana is settling into the proper position for birth, with her head facing downward.  She weighs about 2.5 lbs now!  She's now blinking.  Also, her sleep now includes the REM phase and she could be dreaming about meeting Mommy and Daddy."
from What to Expect When You're Expecting

Bumpdate
These pictures don't even begin to show how bad I feel today!

 The crazy computer will not let me rotate this picture and I'm too sick to care. =(

This is my "I'm sick" face.

Feeling Like Myself

Wow!  For the first time in over a month I feel like myself.  It took forever for me to drift to sleep last night, but when I awoke there was NO back pain!  Hallelujah!  It must have something to do with the cortisone shot.  After doing some Google investigating, I found that many people seek relief from back pain with the use of cortisone injections.  I will definitely bring this up next week at both of my appointments (for GTT and check up).

The only downfall to cortisone is that it leaves you feeling all dried out.  I did crawl out of bed with a headache from needing something to drink.  I went ahead and took some Tylenol and have been chugging juice and water all morning long.  Once we get in the car to head to Biloxi I will cut back so we're not stopping every 30 minutes.

Because my throat hurt so much on Tuesday afternoon along with yesterday, it has been difficult to eat.  Instead of gaining weight this week, I've actually lost a pound dropping me to 154 lbs.  I'm sure it can't hurt me since my weight gain has been extremely steady at 2 lbs each week for well over the past two months.  I know it's all for Ellie, but I hope that the weight gain tapers off as we draw near to the end of pregnancy.  At the rate of gaining 2 lbs every week that would top me off at 178 lbs weighing MORE than both my Dad and Brandon.  Eeeeek!  Whether or not I pass the GTT next week, I will continue to be mindful of my sweets.  That's really the only thing I can control at this point because I've cut way back on fast food, only eating it two days a week (on Wednesday while at work and after church on Sunday).

It's only 8:30 am here and I've already gotten showered, unloaded the dishwasher, loaded it again, cleaned the bathroom floor, vacuumed the house (something I haven't been able to do in over a month), and washed/dried/put away 4 loads of laundry and am still going.  I still have this overwhelming urge to keep cleaning, but I don't want to wear myself out before we get in the car.  I most likely won't be able to nap in the car with Brandon's phone going off constantly and having to help him to respond to emails.

Thank you God for giving me this energy today.  I forgot what it was like to wake up well rested and not in pain.  Even if this is the only day I feel this way, I am grateful to remember how it feels to not hurt.

Sick

Brandon came home from Mississippi yesterday to find me sick.  I kept trying to tell myself that it was just  acid reflux making my throat hurt.  Boy was I wrong!  My throat started hurting mid afternoon yesterday and just got worse as the evening moved on.  I took a glass of water to bed with me, but it was all but impossible to take a sip.

I woke up this morning (at 2 am as usual) and felt awful.  When Brandon got up I could barely talk because it hurt so much.  After going to the doc-in-the-box, I found out that I have strep throat.  They gave me a shot in the hiney and a prescription for antibiotocs (pregnancy safe).  It was quite nostalgic to get stuck in the butt after enduring so many progesterone in oil injections during the first 12 weeks of our pregnancy.  There was no way that I could work today because I felt awful along with being contagious.

Now I'm sitting at home waiting on Brandon to get back from Wednesday night dinner and LIFE at church.  I'm looking forward to travelling with him tomorrow to Biloxi, MS and going on a date.  One of his sales reps there has us set up at a casino for tomorrow evening so we're going to treat it as a date.  It will be nice to go out to dinner together somewhere different.  We'll most likely come home sometime Friday afternoon.

I guess seeing how I do with this trip will determine if we can go on a true Baby Moon.  Being in the car is not one of my favorite things right now, but Brandon traveled Monday and Tuesday and has been gone all day today.  It will be nice to spend some time with him.  I can't wait to post some pictures from our trip and update on Saturday as we enter the SEVENTH MONTH and THIRD TRIMESTER!  I'm just a little bit excited!